Misguided Vampires
by Fairia
Summary: A separate story arc of the Valentine Brothers adventures and various thing will happen. UPDATE: This chapter focuses on Jan and Shinny, and the biggest change of Jan's life .
1. Funny

MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

(Note) I may go for a loop here and make this story a little crazy much like other writers who go overboard, mention something out of the ordinary, out of character (perhaps). So, if you know my work whoever you are, don't except a great literary work or stuff to make sense. I thought of this idea while visiting my aunt and thought it would be fun to see what the brothers were like as kids, in the plot and in flashbacks.

The Valentine Brothers belong to Kohta Hirano and "Shinny" is an Original Character who belongs to me. Ask for my permission if you want for her only. Thanks. Also, excuse any OOC actions. It's a comedy/satire after all.

FUNNY CHIBI VALENTINES

"I can't believe you talked me into this!" This gripe came from Luke Valentine, the eldest brother in a white suits and butt length hair while the younger one was in a black tracksuit and a cap with a golden eye, Jan. Both men were shoveling and digging through the grassy ground. It was dark outside and they were working with a combination of flashlights mounted on sticks in the ground and their own night vision powers.

"Why couldn't we do this when it was still bright out?"

"Jesus Christ bro," Jan cried out loud, annoyed with his brother's groveling. "Quit acting like a pansy." He wiped some dirt off his forehead. "Remember that magazine of Shin's?"

"Yeah. It said this area is famous for rare Indian heads. What about it? I didn't think you were into such things."

"I'm not. But there's one Indian thing that is suppose to grant you wishes when you find it."

"Grants wishes?" Luke exchanged a perplexed look this time.

"Yup."

Luke ignored Jan and went back digging. While wishing Jan never learned to read played over in his mind.

When they dug three feet down, it was Jan that stopped and hit something with a small clunk.

"Hey, bro!" This jolted Luke who was ready to fall asleep right there. "I got it! I got something here!" He motioned his older brother over in the darkest part of the ground where the flashlight did not meet.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Trying digging with your hands."

"What!"

"What's the matter? Afraid of getting your gloves dirty," Jan mocked.

Luke gritted and bared his fangs. "No!" A shovel is still a shovel he barked in his mind. Picking through the dirt and trying as best as he could not thinking of his white gloves turning brown and dusty, Luke felt something hard and crystalline. He could tell in the dark that it was possibly an arrowhead, but could see it was something else as it gleamed in the low flashlight beam. It was shaped like an arrowhead, but was a crystal formation, red and pink reflections in the lines and corners.

"Bro. What is it?"

"Can't you even tell? It's a crystal! A very unique crystal."

Jan snatched it out of Luke's hand, almost ready to crush it.

"A crystal? What the fucky is a fuckin' crystal doin' buried in arrowhead territory!"

Luke cocked an eye when he heard "fucky". He was also thinking were Jan kept thinking up these words.

"Well, whether how it ended up in 'arrowhead territory' is beyond me, but it could be worth more than anything out here in the dark."

"Worth more how?"

"I can already see that it would make a nice gift for Shinny."

Jan looked at the crystal arrowhead again and something came up.

"Well, hell it is! Why did I think of that?" His mood already changing as Luke was almost reaching the boiling point.

The next morning, Shinny was the only one sleeping in bed. Jan was taking a shower, being as nonconspicuous as possible when she awoke to find the diamond arrowhead on her nightstand. Stepping out of the shower like in style, Jan wrapped a towel around his bottom and strolling to the misty mirror. Wiping it with one hand, Jan stumbled upon an appearance he was expecting to see.

"WHAT THE GODDAMN, FUCKIN', SHIT IT THIS SHIT!" The roar spread to Shinny as she not jumped, but bolted right out of her bed, landing on the floor and going right to Luke's room, as he too was jolted from his sleep. Both instantly came to the bathroom door. Shinny was biting the inside of her cheeks to hid an unflattering giggle when Luke took notice and he too laughed; pleasantly holding his hand to his mouth to cover his smile. What they saw was Jan's normally jet-black hair transformed into a pink bubblegum like people kept sticking their used gum on his head. Naturally, Jan was displeased beyond limit.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY," He screamed again, blowing Luke and Shinny back as if caught in a heavy wind. "Who's fuckin' idea is this for a sick joke!"

Luke looked at Shinny as if to say it was not his fault. "Sorry, Jan. But even this is too juvenile for me to do."

Shinny huffed out an "um", but did not say anything else. "Well . . . I guess you must have used one of my hair dyes by mistake. I was going for something different, but . . . I guess it looks better on you." She coyly put her arm behind her head in unrelenting embarrassment.

"What the hell gave you an idea to put some stupid fuckin' dye in the goddamn shower?"

"Because it's also a shampoo. But I clearly labeled it pink dye. Anyone could see it in daylight."

"Daylight my ass, our kind isn't supposed to be in daylight."

"I also thought our kind didn't have the need to take showers," Luke sarcastically chimed in.

"Christ," Jan began as he made his way through. "Goddamn 7:30 in the morning and already he's Mr. Funny Pants." Luke and Shinny turned away and made on last smile and soft laughing.

"Oh look," Shinny said, eyeing something glittering at the corner of her eye. A few hours passed when Jan slightly calmed down. Luckily enough, Shinny had a large ski cap to cover all of the pink locks to that her love did not have to look at it all day. And luckily for her, Jan did not stay made at her, but he was not even looking at Luke. She thought if it was because Jan was not used to Luke making jokes at his expense. One look at the diamond shaped arrowhead was when all the morning trouble went away. She loved how it gleamed with red and pink around the lines and edges. And chiseled the way a sculpture of an arrowhead would . . .

Arrowhead? Where did she see it before she thought? She went into the living room and found a copy of Luthern Neighborhood left open on the National Artifacts section. Ironically, she matched the diamond arrowhead with the picture on the introduction's page and sure enough, it was identical. The story called it The Wishing Arrowhead, a long lost treasure said to bring good luck and heart's desires for the Mawabee Tribe, but lost during a Civil War battle. After reading the article, Shinny was shocked to find that Jan Valentine could find something this rare and overnight. She knew the boys were outside late when she kept hearing the sound of soft ground and arguing. Never would she have imagined that a beautiful artifact lay hidden in her own backyard.

She went back to her room when she found Jan there. To her, he was lying below the bed's edge. She then tiptoed over, hoping to surprise him as she smiled. When she was close enough, she put her arms around him, but heard a muffling sound. Was she choking him instead? Jan removed her hands and turned to her. Shinny's jaw dropped and covered her mouth in a gasp. What she saw was not funny.

Shinny: read Watching Big Brother Part 3 and 4

Name I made up. I hope not to upset anyone.


	2. Chibi

MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

The Valentine Brothers belong to Kohta Hirano and "Shinny" is an Original Character who belongs to me. Ask for my permission if you want for her only. Thanks. Also excuse any OOC actions. It's a comedy/satire after all.

FUNNY CHIBI VALENTINES 2

What Shinny saw was not funny at all. Instead of the tall and dark Jan was a tiny and dark Jan, struggling in his too big clothes and the ski cap and bubblegum hair gone. His face was soft and his eyes were big and bright like gold discs. Shinny thought he looked around seven years old.

"Ah, love," she meekly said.

"How did you get so damn big?" What came from Jan's mouth was a slightly squeaky peep of a voice, probably higher sounding because Jan was confused.

"I'm not the one who's big. You're the one that's small!" Shinny pointed over to her door mirror for him to look into. Jan did and the helium voice became higher pitched.

"What the Hell! I'm a fuckin' kid again! What the Hell is this shit! Holy Christ in the ass! What the Hell am I suppose to do as a fuckin' kid! A fuckin' kid! Goddamn it all to Hell . . ."

As Jan kept dropping F-bombs right and left, Shinny's face erupted into a bright, giant grin. She laughed and gasped at the same time, making her light headed as she fell on the bed and muffled more laughter into the mattress. Luke came inside when he heard Jan screaming and jabbering and found Shinny screaming gasps into the sheets. He saw why. Jan glared up at Luke as he quiet down. Jan was used to seeing his brother at one point towering not only over him, but over the rest of the world, but this time something else caused his smallness.

"What are you staring at, bro," he cried. "Am I a goddamn dinky freak to amuse you?"

Luke stuttered, "Uh . . .no, no. What happened to you?

"What do you think!"

Shinny lifted her head off the sheets and her face a shade of raw meat red.

"I don't know what happened either, Luke, but all I know is that Jan is a kid again. And oh God . . .I couldn't help myself when started screaming. I never anything sounding like that." She turned to the little boy by the mirror. "I really am sorry, Jan. I don't want to hurt you feelings, but I never heard someone with that voice curse before."

Even though he heard what Shinny said and wanted to embrace her, he flashed a toothed snarl as the nightmarish thought of being a tot again pained through his head. He was not aware of his voice sounding strange while too busy ranting. He knew everything on him was no longer manly and attempting to retrieve it would be in hilarious yet hopeless vain.

"Then what is it then," Jan attempted to change the subject. "I know I'm not that freakin' bright sometimes, but I bet you everything it was that arrowhead I let you hold on to." Jan diverted the conversation to his older brother, a look of feign disguised as truth.

"You did give to me last night after we dug it out, Jan." Luke started to hesitate. "But did it make any difference if you thought of anything to happen." He accentuated the word "thought" to express mental willing. "I was thinking thousands of things at once, but this so-called 'wishing arrowhead' didn't make any of it reality."

Luke realized his error after he finished. There was a thought he mentally grumbled over and over. After the arrowhead was out of the ground, Luke volunteered to hold on to it and tried to think of what to do with it. He knew he did not want to trust Jan carrying it if the arrowhead did display some unusual mystic ability, thinking he would not be mature enough to handle it. Just as Jan was too impatient to wait when it was light out, inconsiderate of his needs. Everything about Jan was immature. He should have just stayed a child . . .

"Bro," Jan snarled and shrieked at the same time, calling Luke back to the present. It was already too late when Luke believed the "stayed a child "statement was what caused this to happen. Just as two tiny hands grappled his neck with plastic steak knives and pressed harder and harder on his skin and cramping bones. "What the fuck did you do to me," came the harsh squeals collaborating with Luke muffled coughs for air. It was then the child Jan grabbed a pile of Luke's long hair and proceeded to wrap the blonde locks around his neck. The locks smoothly wrapped around then weakly formed a tight brace, not strong enough to tie a knot around, but Jan proved at his younger demeanor that he had the strength of a circus strongman.

"Stop it, stop it," came the cry of Shinny. "STOP IT!"

Her look found dread in her eyes as the two brothers stared back at her, shocked by the shrillness of her cry. They looked comically alike with Luke pink in the face and Jan gleamed sweat on his face like confused sculpture models.

"This is no time to be behaving like this! There is no one to blame or choke to death by the hair but that diamond arrowhead! Now are you gonna stop killing each other for at least a second and figure out what the hell we're gonna do!"

The Valentines laid their in continued shock that transcended into outright fear. They have never seen Shinny become this angry. A young lady immediately turning into a madwoman at their extreme rough housing. It was then that Luke moved his "tiny" brother off him and brushed his hair off around his neck and smoothing it out.

"You're right, Shinny. I'm really sorry about this Jan," he apologized to his brother still on the floor.

"I guess I understand," Jan meekly said. "But this still sucks!"

Shinny reached her arms out and picked up like he was her kid brother and set him on her lap on the bed. She ruffled his black hair and smiled.

"It'll be ok there, Janni. We'll figure something out. You just have to stick through this and be a kid again."

A kid? Jan never thought of being a kid again. He was already young at vampire heart. It seemed like ages when he frolicked in childhood. It was pretty good, almost normal at times, but he also knew it ended before he reached puberty and left his parents without free will. But his girlfriend's comforting words did not make him feel any better.

"I don't know. I don't feel a kid again. I probably never even was." His last thought brought guilt and confusion in his voice.

Kneeling in front of Jan on Shinny's lap, Luke said, "Trust me, Jan. You were." His voice sounding like a wise older brother now. Jan stared at him with round kitty eyes that expressed curiosity instead of bratty scheming.

"Then fill me in, bro," his younger voice requested.

"Yeah, why not," Shinny chipped in. "I'd love to know what you two nuts were like as kids."

"Well, I suppose I'll tell you," Luke said. The three went into the living room, Shinny carrying Jan on her side. She looked down at Jan with wonder and realized he was bright eyed and directed at her bosom. Shinny got mad and diverted his eyes with her hand, almost wanting to smack him. The two relaxed on the couch as Luke stood in front of them like a university professor preparing for the class lecture.


	3. Valentines

MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

_The Valentine Brothers belong to Kohta Hirano and "Shinny" is an Original Character who belongs to me. Ask for my permission if you want for her only. Thanks. This chapter may also get a little serious, along with some humor._

FUNNY CHIBI VALENTINES 3

Everything that I remembered as a child was peaceful. You could say that I didn't have a care in the world.

My parents were Sarah and Marcus Valentine, married for seven years before they decided to have children. My dad worked for a chicken farm outside of London, taking egg inventory and delivering them to local stores and supermarkets. My mother was a homemaker who liked to paint in her spare time. Her drawings were fantastic, interwoven with bright, beautiful colors I loved so well growing up.

I was born in the spring of 1976, my father was out of town at the time and arrived late to see my mother still in the hospital. From what I was told, my parents thought I was special. I already had a full head of hair then. They could sense that I was more attentive than other children, yet the most serious. But then what was wrong with that if not…. unique. They gave me everything needed and could want, taking special note of my gifts; my mother was in charge of schooling me, teaching the arts and literature while my father gave me a glance of business and inventory, despite that he had a mediocre job himself.

Then it was in early 1979 when my mother was pregnant again. I didn't think much of it, until my mother had to cut back on helping me education wise to relax and take care of herself. It was hard on her handling a house by herself and having another child along the way. Dad cut back on the hours to help out too.

It was on Christmas Day when she gave birth to my little brother. I thought it was special Christmas gift for my mother on that day, but I was perplexed by how dark he looked; I wasn't sure if he was my brother at all. Mother told me that his dark skin came from her side of the family (she was more olive skinned) and father added, when I asked again, that children will take physical characteristics from either parent, as it was a bit common for siblings to not always look or be the same.

Even though there was nothing wrong at first, but ever since Jan came into my life, my parents had their hands full taking of me and giving extra attention to Jan who developed childhood asthma. Jan constantly cried and cough that it didn't matter what time of day it was. And it annoyed me when it was playtime and mom or dad would have to rush to comfort Jan when he cried at the top of his lungs. Sometimes I wished Jan would just shut up for ten minutes. Then it felt like I got my wish. He didn't cry or cough…. or anything. I remembered the look of terror on my mother's face when she tried to give Jan mouth-to-mouth and dad rushed all of us to the hospital. I tried to comfort my crying mother, even after Jan breathed again. I was also scared myself; I didn't actually think my wish would come true and both my parents, my whole life back then, in pain over it. It was then that I promised I would protect my little brother no matter what.

As Jan got older, the asthma went away and I notice he developed a talent for drawing. They weren't much, colorful scribbles and the occasional cat that looked like a hot dog, but he was trying regardless. I tried to help him as best I could, taking what I know from mom's painting, but Jan would push me back, refusing any help. Five years old and three years older than him, I already knew Jan was going to be the physically and mentally temperamental type, and it didn't help if I was involved. He felt that I would steal the spotlight again and hog anything that he learned and discovered by himself. Yet that wasn't all true. At least I'd like to think that.

We still had our ups and downs over the years, but when Jan was at least calm and not so hyped up, we would play together. I wanted the company of my brother as I finally out grew working on getting my parents affections.

One day I had my first supernatural encounter. Whenever we visit my dad at work, Jan would chase the chickens around. He succeeded one time grabbing a chicken by a leg, but that chicken retaliated and gave him a nasty scratch across the face. The strange thing was when he held back his sobs and closed his hands over his face to keep the pain from spreading, I witnessed the wounds healing by themselves. I was frantic and shocked by how it happened without a doctor or my mother taking care of it with medicines and creams. I didn't know what to do; I didn't want to tell my parents because they would freak out over it. So, neither of us didn't say anything and kept this little secret to ourselves.

Then, one day, everything seemed to change. In 1986, a few days before Halloween, Jan and I met an uncle we never knew we had. His name was "Emmet Woltez" and was dad's half-brother. He had short blonde hair with a little tail in the back, a tall man who tried to appear pleasant and was dressed like he worked at a hospital. Our mother didn't trust him off the bat. She sensed something misleading about him. I overheard that he wasn't seen since World War 2 nor afterwards, but that didn't sound right. He wasn't that old to begin with. I remembered the look he gave me; it was like he was marking me with his eyes. I didn't trust him either.

One week later, there were a few things I remembered last. My dad was at work and mom went to the store. They would meet each other along the way then take me and Jan out to dinner. But instead of either one coming back, our uncle showed up again, but this time, we left with him. We didn't know where our parents were so we couldn't say goodbye to them or kiss them goodbye. Jan struggled as one heavily dressed man carried him away, superhumanly deflecting the many blows Jan armed himself with. Uncle "Emmet" told us the horrible news that our parents died in a car accident and he was our guardian. Jan kept to himself while I was dying on the inside. I kept thinking I would never see them again, that I was alone in the world.

Then came the experiments. The wretched experiments. Jan and I were subjected to constant injections, prodding, tests and eventually for me, an uninhibited growth spurt. All this prompted fear and confusion in me. I felt more alone and outcasted. I wanted my parents so much.

Literally, in every sense, I was burdened with raising Jan as Doc didn't have the time to raise us. I had to be the parent in this childhood; I already had the height to match. And we were looked down upon as army brats for Nazis and outsiders on many levels. Now a days, I'm not sure if my parents really did die by fate. I would think Doc had something to do with what happened, but could never have the gall to ask. I just thought that God took them away from us and left us to become murderers, scarred for the rest of our lives until our own inevitable end would come. I already knew who that god might have been.

Jan fell asleep in time in Shinny's arms after Luke finished his story. Her hand covered her right breast so that Jan subconsciously won't take it upon himself to bite her. Shinny did not have much effort to hide her tears that were covering her cheeks. She started to say something, but choked.

"It's all right, Shinny," Luke chimed in. "You don't have to say anything."

She wiped her face with her free hand.

"But… you… went through so much. I'm really sorry to hear all this."

"I've learned to stop beating myself over it years ago. There's no point in wishing everything was right again."

With that last thought, Luke excused himself. Shinny bounced the sleeping boyfriend as she stroked his head like any mother would do. By himself to rethink everything he admitted, he looked at the crystal he held in his hands after it nestled in his pocket. He wondered how the crystal worked. What did it divert its power too? Hope? Desire? Wishing? It seemed so old and childish to Luke, he reeled from when wishing bit back and brought terror and pain. Having Jan as a kid was wasted somehow. He secretly wanted to be a kid again himself now that his memories flooded back.

The night already seemed too long. Luke went to his bedroom and tried to relax, unsure of what the future will now bring.

The next morning, Luke rustled under his bed sheets. With a little leg trying to reach the ground, it was struggling to get out of the large bed. Then, as extra weight pulled down by the force of gravity, Luke literally tumbled onto the floor, surrounded by the wrapping of many sheets and giant clothes. He quickly reached for his glasses and in awe of what happened. He panicked, fearing that he shrunk, until he saw his hands. His gloves were long gone and unraveled smaller, smoother hands. They weren't his adult hands. He touched his face and felt less lines and reached back for his hair that only reached his neck, tapping his shoulders. He was a child again, possibly younger than Jan was last night.

He heard a knock at the door and found a familiar voice.

"Luke, you okay?"

Shinny called, concerned over the side of the door's barrier. Luke walked over to the door and stood on tipped toes to reach the knob, but to no avail.

"Could you come in here, Shinny," Luke squeaked, noticing the high pitch in his voice like he did shrink. The knob turned and the door opened a bit as Shinny peeked inside. Luke diverted her attention to the floor. She jumped and flung the door open, aghast by what she saw. She quickly knelt down to his eye level.

"Wait," she muttered in confusion. "How did? What? How?"

Jan came into the hallway, sleepy-eyed, wondering what the commotion was early in the morning.

"What the fuck is it now," he grumbled.

Everyone met as another shocker appeared. Jan was fully grown again, standing in his underwear almost embarrassingly to a stranger's opinion. Shinny carefully picked Luke up and brought everyone into the living room.

After a few minutes of silence, as Jan was forced to hold his "little" brother while Shinny paced.

"All right," She began. "The way I see it, if the crystal made Jan younger after you wished it Luke, then it has to create an opposite effect."

"An opposite effect," Jan questioned, not at all in the mood for any heavy thinking.

"I don't think so," Luke said. "It's only an opposite effect when I was thinking about how mad I was at Jan and about what I said last night. My story and everything. I must have…wished I was in Jan's position somehow."

Jan picked him up by the armpits, holding at arms length.

"You _actually_…. wanted this?" Jan said, unsure of what to conjure. This thought perplexed him enough; a morning full of surprises.

"In a way," Luke fidgeted his fingers. "I also think that this crystal grants someone their deepest desire, even if that wasn't what they thought. So, I ended up getting my wish all along."

Knowing Jan would drop Luke in a heartbeat, Shinny scooped him out of Jan's arms as he clasped his head, imitating a severe headache.

"So, what the hell is this? You actually wanted _this_?"

"That's what you already said," Shinny chimed in. "We'll just have to see if Luke becomes an adult on his own again. But until that…"

Throughout the morning, and a few days afterwards, Shinny took on the role of surrogate mother for the Luke child, in charge of feeding him, playing with him and being near him until the wish wore off. She found that it wasn't too hard to take care of a child, expect the only good drawbacks was that Luke talked and looked like a baby genius, didn't cry or wail and could walk on his own. Everything any hard working mother would trade for to have a well-behaved "child".

And for now, this transformation back to childhood gave Luke peace of mind. He played along with the act, reliving of when he was an only child, no cares in the world and a mother a friend could be. When he grew up, he would now securely remember what love, to a child, was again. But to add insult to injury, Jan declared that he would not be changing any diapers.

The End


	4. First Date Jitters

-1MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

_The Valentine Brothers belong to Kohta Hirano. "Marlane" and "Shinny" are Original Characters who belongs to me. Ask for my permission if you want to use either characters. Thanks. _

FIRST DATE JITTERS

A two piece navy blue swimsuit fit perfectly in a corner rim of a brown suit case. Next to it, a bristle hair brush, six pairs of underwear, six bras, shorts of different colors and extra shirts. On top of the shorts, a plastic storage bag containing a tooth brush and paste, a mountain spring body spray and a few other assorted toiletries. Another suit case beside this one is a mountain of tangled clothes belonging to a guy. Shinny sighed as she saw the mess and tried to make neater or at least make enough space to close the case.

It was summer time as the early sun shined through her bedroom window. The sky was painted with a few wisps of clouds as they strode past the sun's face. It won't be long until the sun grows hot, making the air moist with heat and human perspiration. So far, it was quiet outside, no birds singing, no leaves rustling, not even the wind passing at every corner was heard. Shinny thought to herself that it was going to be a hot vacation and rechecked the cases to see if there was enough sun block. She was relieved to find one that read SPF 120, hard to find and steep for her pocket, but was good enough to help even her vampire boyfriend, Jan, from near death.

The couple planned this vacation for a few weeks. A sun and surf beach down in Florida was not something Jan was ecstatic about, he planned to spent those times in the shade of hopefully many palm trees as possible. They both needed some time alone after everything that happened since Jan returned, from an encounter with Doc, his estranged uncle and Millennium scientist to Jan becoming a toddler, and not to mention what Jan did to Shinny's mother as said child. (A relapse with touching the mystic arrowhead again.)

Luke would have the house to himself to do as he pleased, even though there wouldn't be much to occupy his time. They were heading out the door, Jan carrying both suitcases and Shinny giving Luke a quick kiss goodbye on the cheek.

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself, Luke," she asked.

"Yeah," Luke replied, "You two just have a good time together."

"Fuck that," Jan crassly called from outside.

Shinny smiled. "_I'll _be fine, but as always, Jan will be a hassle." She waved goodbye and closed the door behind her. Luke then heard a crash and Jan swearing and screaming, crying over his own suitcase that exploded and landed on his foot.

Time slowly passed at the small cottage house. Luke was lying down on the couch, semi-curled up with his shoes off and taking a nap. Even though Jan and Shinny were only gone for a few days, boredom plagued Luke. He spent mornings at the local bookstore and watching people converse at one of the plush sofas seated in the back of the store. He studied how in tuned they were to great literature, talking about their daily lives and their relationships; one said she was going to get married by the end of the month. Occasionally Luke drank coffee at the café where he first met Marlane that day weeks ago. His mind casually brought Marlane back to consciousness; he wanted to know about her, what her thoughts were, her dreams and why she had to leave in such a hurry. He still assumed it was because she saw Doc in a crowd and didn't want to get involved. It would be hard press if Marlane still remembers him.

A radio clock in the kitchen glowed a blue green 12:30. It was bright outside as the sun lightened the little living room with it's ever present glow. Luke pondered of going outside to sit out on the deck just as he was bringing himself up and found something in his shirt pocket. He pulled out a scrap of paper between his fingers and unraveled it. Written in scribble handwriting was Marlane's phone number. Wondering if she was still around, he gave her a call.

She greeted with a pleasant airiness to her. "Oh my God, Luke," she replied cheerily. "It's so good to hear from you. I would've thought you've forgotten about me."

"Quite the contrary," Luke said. "I've been more than curious about you. But you left that day before I got the chance."

Luke could hear her sigh over the phone line. It sounded like she was hesitant to say something but absolutely wanted to.

"I know. But…you see and I know this may sound weird. But I thought… someone has been after me for sometime and that man I saw in the crowd looked exactly like him."

"Someone was after you," Luke asked quizzically.

"It's kind of complicated to explain. But I've been harassed by a stalker for a couple of months. And I was really scared when I saw him. But to my relief, the stalker was arrested earlier when a friend of mine heard the news on TV. And now that that was cleared up, I really wanted to see you again, but I didn't have an idea of how to get in touch with you, let alone knew where you were. I hope you forgive me."

"I'm just glad Doc wasn't after you for anything. But he's history as far as I can tell. So, neither of us would have to worry about him."

Luke went on to explain who Doc was and, with a bit of hesitation on his part, told her everything that happened, including the battle of three giants in one place.

"Well, I have a bit of background with odd occurrences like that. But mostly, I work as a modern day ghost hunter, believe it or not."

"A ghost hunter? That's something you don't hear of as a profession."

"Or without people thinking you're insane."

They both laughed. Their conversation continues for another half hour when Luke said, "So, anyway, if you're not busy…" He paused for a moment, nervous of what he wanted to ask next. He knew he never hung around with women a lot or talked to that many girls in school. But he was an adult and there was no Millennium around, no vampire soldiers or even his uncle to keep him holed up.

"I'm not too familiar with places here yet, so would it be fine with you if you show me around when you can?"

"Oh, I see," she remarked. "You're asking me out on a date?"

Luke prepared for the worst as he clenched his fanged teeth.

"I love to."

His teeth eased up as a sheepish smile drew across his right side.

The night was all set. Earlier, when Marlane came by to the house for the first time, Luke overwhelmed in her appearance. She was decked in a brown burgundy dress shirt of cashmere and a floral silk skirt that reached above her knees. Her Italian black pumps showed off her sleek and subtle feet. To him, everything went away. No evil uncle or pestering brother to ruin the moment. And hopefully, nothing else strange occurring.

They went to a semi-formal Italian restaurant where Luke spent an hour and a half learning a little more about Marlane. She was the daughter of a retired high school principal with a homemaker mother and a younger brother, whom she hadn't seen in years. While her career was a little unusual for a woman to be interested in, Luke could relate entirely to whatever she experienced. He found her just as charming and funny the first time they met.

Returning home, Luke let Marlane break out a bottle of red wine and a dessert tray she left in Shinny's fridge before the couple went out. Luke felt more relaxed being with her, mostly because he aired out his grievances prior that afternoon and that another woman accepted him, outside of Shinny. They continue their conversation about a short story published in a recent issue _The New Yorker_, one of the magazines Luke subscribes.

"Why don't you try one," Marlane offered the dessert.

"Of course, thank you," Luke replied.

She brought the tray toward him in one hand while holding a wine goblet in the other. They were tiny, circular tarts of assorted fruit spreads, treats she picked up along the way. Graciously accepting, Luke took the first bite of human food he had in years. At first, it wasn't too bad; a little too tart, even for his tastes. He was told once that if you had no choice but to eat human food, it takes a while for the taste to settle back in. Yet, something about the flavor wasn't right.

He started itching around his neck, with rapid succession following. Marlane perplexingly watched his hound scratching, then slightly lifted from he seat on the couch to check his neck area that caused the irritation. Even though he didn't appear to be choking, at the corner of her eyes, she jumped by the sight of Luke's bright blue face, causing her wine to spill over his jacket. He cried out and tried blotting the growing stain with napkins.

"I'm so… sorry," Marlane's voice jittered. She couldn't take her eyes off of his face.

"Please excuse me," Luke quickly asked, before heading into his room.

"But your face…," Marlane called back, but the door slammed with an ear splitting close.

Luke unbutton his jacket, grumbling to himself how he was going to get the stain out. Keeping clothes clean and prim was a necessity in his book; he hoped Shinny had extra strong bleach. He didn't want to seem rude to Marlane, but it was a vex on this little dilemma that was about to get bigger. Whatever was in that small tart started giving him some complications, feeling it move among his skin in bumps.

Then, pain wringed from his stomach, his hands reflexively placed upon it as it began to grow. His skin bulging under his shirt, straining against the zipper. Luke concentrated to keep from losing his clothes entirely, letting them grow along with him. He didn't know why this happened or happening this way as the swelling moved upward, spreading over his chest, downward into his arms and legs like a warm rush.

Marlane was still dumbfounded by Luke's condition. It wasn't normal to suddenly change skin color that fast. It was like Luke was splattered with a bucket of paint. A cry came from the direction of the shut bedroom in the hall, Luke's room. Quickly, she came to the door.

"Luke," she called out, "What happened? It can't be that bad."

"It just got worse!" She heard his muffled shout, noting anxiety in his voice.

"For a stain? I'm sure bleach would…"

"Please! Whatever you do, don't come in here!"

Marlane thought Luke was overreacting over what she did and she felt it was her concern that Luke was overcome with something that could be harmful.

"Something's not right with you." She opened the door or flung it open, as it's hinges dug into the walls surrounded by thin cracks. Marlane gasped at what she saw.

Her date stood there, a stunningly huge, round blueberry shaped man, wide and high as he was tall. Any signs of what he was left behind a bright blue head contrasting against white hair, hands and possibly feet buried beneath the round torso. Surprisingly, his clothes stretched outrageously to accommodate his size. Her initial response was to faint, but she was too flabbergasted to do something drastic. She'd seen many things that regular people couldn't comprehend or were aware of, but this was by no means supernatural; more like a medical oddity of the human body inflated and taunt.

She slowly approached him, nervous to get so close let alone touch his "fragile" body. She sprang up memories of watching "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" as a little girl, watching Violet Beauregarde blow up from the gum, tasting too much blueberry pie that she became one while little orange men rolled the helpless round girl. Her hands were on his rounded sides, pressing his skin to feel anything odd or if it there actually was juice inside.

"H-how? I mean…" she stammered.

"I'm as dumbfounded as you are," Luke commented back. "But I think I know why this happened. That one tart I took was blueberry flavored. I remembered too late that's what I was allergic to." He managed a tight smile. "Even as a kid, I still ate them." He looked back fondly on that memory.

"But how were you able to do…this?" Marlane sized him up in a confounded way.

"Since I can enlarge my body height wise, it seems it can be enlarged horizontally. The best benefit of this expansion is that I can still stay modest."

"Good to know."

Marlane looked over his jacket on the bed spread. Not only did she want to see how deep the wine stain set in, but also to hide her face from him for a bit. She was still confused over this ordeal, even though Luke explained it already. Then, she felt something along an inside pocket. It was a picture; Looking at it closer as she picked it out and turned it around was a date written on the back: October 13th, 1986.

She asked, "Is this you here? Are these you're…"

"Wait a minute," Luke cried out and tried lunging forward. One of his awkward shuffles caused him to slip and careen his "belly body" forward smoothly like a waterfall in a snow globe. He muttered an "aw, crap" realizing he was looking down and hair blocking his vision on both sides of his head. Marlane hid her smile over her available hand and tried suppressing a giggle, which didn't work.

She replied, "You know, I've heard of blue blood, but not blue body."

Returning to him, she drew one hand below his belly along the floor, balancing his top side as she tried heaving him up. Even though he was "hollow" following her inspection, he was still too heavy to lift. So instead, and planning something kinky, she turned him 180 degrees for his head to face her and began rolling him a bit. Easily moving him like rolling a giant vinyl ball, except one that gasped in protest as to why she was doing this. With enough room, she climbed on top of him, with more odd protests ensuing.

"What in the world are you doing," he quizzically cried, feeling her weight on top of him, crushing him almost over his sensitive body. Luke cursed himself for not mentioning that his swelling made him more sensitive. Marlane began to cuddle his head and plant soft kisses in his hair. One lone finger trailed along the area where his shoulder should be, immediately prompting a change of mind.

"You know, I was a little embarrassed at first to let you know," Marlane seductively purred.

"Let me know what?"

"That rotund guys like this is a complete turn on for me."

Luke was shocked to hear of such a claim. Yet, Marlane took a chance dating a vampire, so some things are a given. He didn't like the thought of his slender body going outwards, even if the swelling was temporary when he remembered them. What finally made it worth something was the gained feeling of a warm human being next to him or in this case on top of him.

Her finger continued to trail along, sending shivers along his wobbly body that made her more gleeful, pressing deeper into him and having his body jump (no, bounce) in reaction. If she could only see Luke's brightly turning-purple-embarrassed face.

Morning came with the sound of jingled doorknobs. Shinny first entered with her suit case, dropping it on the floor and stretching with a relaxed sense of comfort of coming home.

"I'd say that's the best needed break I've ever had," she smiled.

Jan dragged not only his suit case, but bags of souvenirs of flamingoes, pinwheels, jars of sand, broken clam shells and pebbles upon pebbles picked up while night strolls on the beach were taken.

"Goddamn, mutha-fuckin' crap," he heaved while also carrying his worn, over exerted body.

"For Christ's sake, Jan! You're a vampire. You must have the strength of carrying a car over your back." Shinny sounded angry but still kept her smile.

"I said I have strength, not goddamn invulnerability. Yeow! Fuck!" After the sand jar bag dropped on his foot. "Goddamn sandals! Goddamn foot being there! Goddamn…"

"Jan, look." Shinny pointed over to the coffee table.

"What?!" He too spotted two filled goblets, tarts and an open bottle of wine. "Looks like bro's hitting the bottle and waited for us to leave."

Shinny inspected one of the glasses.

"Not likely. There's lipstick marks on this one."

Putting the glass down, she shuffled to Luke's room and realized the door was open. Upon entering, she gave a shrill cry, causing Jan to drop _everything_. More swearing returned as he humped to where she cried out, mumbling about doing something to her for turning him into an ass.

Then, in that moment, as Shinny, eyes shining and face puckered, and Jan, near jaw dropping, found Luke nestled below a black woman with her teeth on his ear lobe. All four were staring at each other.

The End


	5. Women in Purpose

Misguided Vampires

Women in Purpose

_Who is Shinny?_

_From the thoughts of Shinny:_

_I was so happy when he came back. I couldn't understand why he just went and left like that all of a sudden, four months to be exact. I thought everything was going so well. Was Jan really the "bad boy" like in those women's magazines I read? That's what worried me the most. Even after I knew a bit more about him and met his older brother Luke, I think I knew that things weren't going to be the same._

Abigail Seitz led a fairly normal life for a young woman. She grew up as an only child to Celia and Michael "Mugsy" Seitz. Her parents were both 40 at the time, but made the best of parenthood in middle age. Shinny lived in Luthern, Connecticut all her life; in an apartment on busy 5th Main street until she was nine before the small family moved to the suburbs after her father received money from his former company's insurance, working for 20 years there, after a work related accident that permanently put him out of work. Previous to the move, he spent the extra time on a hobby: stain glass making. His work was donated to a church out of town as a small designing company discovered his work and hired him from home to design various glasses for other establishments. The company paid him a large salary, large at least to Mugsy, and he bought a large house for his family to live in.

Celia was considered the bread winner of the family. While Mugsy worked on his hobby, Celia worked as a receptionist and then promoted to directive assistant at a loan company. Mugsy's in-home job placed him as house husband, cooking, cleaning and taking care of Shinny when she was younger. He taught her various Italian and French dishes he was taught as a child; Shinny helped out around the house more when she a teenager. Despite being an only child, her parents were very lax with her as her various cousins also watched over her, particular her male cousin brothers whenever she played with them.

Before the summer of when Shinny turned 16 started, Mugsy purchased a summer home outside of the suburbs into the wooded areas of Luthern. Shinny would swim in the lake nearby whenever they stay a couple of weeks there every year. It was also where, with her friends, she was dared to go skinny dipping, hence getting the nickname "Shinny" after she held her breath longer than anyone, the only thing visible above the water were her shins.

When Shinny graduated and entered college a year later. She wanted to get a job and work her way up in life, but her parents wanted her to go to college, seeing as they never went themselves. Shinny wanted to prove to them she could do it on her own as college didn't interest her. After going through various part-time jobs, she became frustrated with not finding steady work. She eventually enrolled; her pleased parents around that time retired and moved up to Boston. There was still the matter of their own opinions again when she started dressing in black and wearing various kinds of Goth clothing. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Economics, wanting to work with various forms of art inspired from her father pursuing his own dreams to create his own works. When she found steady work, she requested that she buy the summer house to live in so that her parents wouldn't have to worry about who will own and take care of house and that where she lived ever since.

Over the years living in the summer home, now fully redesigned as more modern and New York-ish, it was quiet and her life was mundane. She worked full time at the book store at one point, talking and hanging out with the circle of people there, but it was boring all around. The only thing that seemed to liven up the town with new and innovative ideas was she herself reading magazines and discussing pop art famous among the big city's elite. There were times she wished she lived in those big cities, until she met with up a lone misfit one day…

_Who is Marlane?_

_From the thoughts of Marlane:_

_Ironically enough, I don't know what attracted me to Luke. Even though I told him he was intelligent and charismatic, he seemed the withdrawn type. Like he never interacted with people before. But in a lot of ways, it was like we wanted to be near someone. It reminded me of guys who wanted to succeed in life and didn't have time for love. In Luke, it was like that success melted away…and another kind of success came in. One that I was looking for myself._

Marlane Tommerson grew up as a different girl. Fredrick and Marla

Tommerson were an upper class couple, Fredrick was a high school principal and Marla was a homemaker, happy with having one child in their lives. The birth of their youngest son was an unexpected birth, but it never seemed to be a problem for them. Marlane was a teenager then and became a second mom to her little brother.

The Tommerson's were a strict couple as well. Marlane followed curfews and her brother was not allowed to play by the pool or the courts by himself without his mother or sister. Frederick wanted a clean-cut boy for his daughter to date, although the Los Angeles prep school boys were not up to Marlane's liking. Marlene felt that whatever she did was not good enough in the eyes of her father. She wasn't the smartest or most athletic, she didn't have talents that would please her folks. She always felt like a failure and never felt like a daughter when she was growing up.

When Marlane had a crush on an Asian boy in her English class, she wanted to ask him out, but was afraid of what her father would say of dating someone who wasn't the same race. If he came by her home, Marlane would explain to her parents that he was a tutor helping her study up in her bedroom. It wasn't until that Frederick caught the two teenagers kissing each other that it was the end of their relationship, ended by a stern father's stare down and threatening presence that told the boy to leave with him saying a word.

Marlane couldn't take the strict lifestyle anymore and moved out to with live relatives a few counties away. She never talked to them or her brother. Marlane became curious about the paranormal and went to study parapsychology at a university in Virginia, where Edgar Casey's psychic research was famous. Recruiters came to the university and they chose Marlane to be an agent to investigate paranormal and supernatural happenings.

Marlane had a sense of longing, a longing of showing her parent's love and affection; wanted to show them that she was making a life for herself. A surprise came to her when she got the nerve to call her parents after the long years of no communication. Her father and mother thought about how life was when she wasn't there and that her brother ran away from home two years after she left. They've said how much they missed her and wanted to see her. She visited her parents while she was in LA, investigating a faux haunted house containing real ghosts in an old area. They talked it over and decided that the Tommerson's would show more encouragement to her and support her job title. But, it was hard to say if Fredrick let up on who her daughter should date.

Among the stunned silence, boisterous sudden laughter exploded. The laughter belonged to Jan, who was near-bowled over, clutching his stomach as if to hold back an imminent intestinal burst. It was his older brother, Luke, lying along the floor and a black woman nearly on top of him, unaware that Luke was a rotund blueberry man and his date, Marlene spent the night on top of him as his allergic reaction subsided through the night. The giggling has even shadowed Shinny telling Jan to stop laughing at his brother.

"Geez Louise! I'm really sorry about his insensitivity."

"Please don't trouble yourself over it, dear. I also have a brother," Marlane said smiling. "So from what I've heard, Luke is right. He can be a handful." Shinny "banished" Jan to their bedroom until his laughter cools down, as she was alone with the other two. His chortling can still be heard while Luke and Marlane explained what happened.

"Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Marlane, although by unusual circumstances. I can just imagine Jan's reaction if Luke still looked like that. He'd be hoarse for weeks."

That would be a blessing in disguise Luke thought, who tried to block the image of his little brother taunting his "blueberry" brother. The two ladies got to know each other better as Luke drifted off into his own thoughts. What embarrassed him the most was a perfect evening ruined, allergies getting in the way and becoming a helpless orb of a vampire. He wondered if Marlane would ever let it down, or even see him again.

Marlane on the other hand didn't feel too badly after getting caught in a tender moment like that. She awoke a few minutes before the other couple came home, staring down at Luke, breathing in his sleep (which to her sounded abnormal for a slumbered vampire, let alone walking in the day time) and deflated, the itching and blue skin fading away on their own. She snuck in for a quiet kiss, just as she was unzipping his shirt, tasting thin, almost velvet coarse lips, like crumpled roses hours before they dry up and fade to dust. Before she got any further and her hand veering away from his trousers, she looked up and saw a heavily tattooed, dark young man who she would've figured to be a hoodlum the way her father would view a boy and a young girl in a frilly dark skirt with a white strap top; one in awe, and the other…who was still laughing 45 minutes afterwards.

"I still don't see why he's thinks this is funny, and act like a hyena for this long! He acted like no one ever does this." Luke objected after his long silence.

"Why complain either way, Luke," Shinny countered. "Janni will find funny whatever he finds funny. Eventually, he'll get tired of it and find something else to joss you about."

Marlane put her hand on his lap and said, "She's right, hunny. My brother wasn't a terror as he was, but there were times I wanted to kill him too. But him running away all the time didn't make things better."

"Jan's not the running-away type," Luke quipped, "he's the kicking-someone-in-the-balls-until-they-literally-bled type."

Shinny threw her hands up in mock. "As my pop used to say, 'You got caught with your underwear on before your pants came up, so next time, to do it quick and easy.'"

It was the other couples turn to look in confusion at her statement.

She coughed and said, "Well, if you don't want to be embarrassed, just keep the door shut _and_ locked. That could also work."

By the afternoon when the laughter died down and the little table cleared away of last night's romantic debris, everything was quiet and normal again. Marlane gave Luke a late good night kiss and offered to have his coat dry cleaned. Around the evening, Shinny and Jan had dinner together; Luke was quietly contemplating inside his room, requesting dinner later.

His mind reeled over the audacity of such a woman. A ghost hunter for lack of a better word in love with a cold, life sucking being, getting involved at one point in possibly more dangerous lines than in her career, wooing over a man with the worst possible case of allergic reactions. If Luke ended up afflicted with blue skin and immobility, others would treat him like a toxic cloud. No, there was something about her; very brave or very stupid, naïve. Luke thought it more likely to be the first than the latter. But why would it occur for a random woman to take this chance on someone for something that he was once taught was feeble and clouded? Many strange and wonderful mysteries have appeared before him in these new moments. When things are no longer what they assume and when one continues to "run away" to find happiness, unaware they would turn right around despite their pleas.


	6. Dinner ForSix? Part 1

Misguided Vampires

Dinner for….Six? Part 1

It was a dark and rainy night….in this case it was. A few rustles from bushes and twigs reveal a wet, small creature, panting roughly as water drips from its fur. More rustling came a few feet away as it was met with dogs howling. The tiny creature sped away, pumping its legs along the wet earth.

Up ahead was a small cottage with lights on in the right ell of the home. It slinked up the front steps, shivering, its long circle striped tail puffy with soggy bits. It manically pawed the door, scratching the frame to be let inside. Shrill barks erupted the pawing, signaling that the pack was coming closer. The small thing zipped away and headed for the porch to hide under a plastic chair. It would not be able to hide there for long; the dogs would sniff it out eventually, sending the helpless creature running away for its life again.

A door opened up on the porch, a young female human wearing a white T-shirt and leather pants poked her head out. It was the creature's chance for shelter, quickly slinking past her shiny legs without any detection. The mangy pack charged onto the porch, prompting a sudden gasp from the woman, as she screamed at them, her anxious voice just as shrill as her barks. She threatened an imaginary thing to throw at them if they didn't leave. Another human, a tall male under a slicker, called the dogs to him and apologizing for their behavior. The rain increased in drops, leaving the two to part ways and her reentering to her home.

"I swear," Shinny said, "He should know better than to let his dogs run wild at this time." She ironed her hair down with her hands, fixing it from any rain that fell on her head. She looked down and saw a brighter streak along her legs. "Where did this come from," Shinny asked herself surprisingly. With the back door shut, she tried to wipe the smear off with a paper towel.

The living room lights were now off; the creature's slatted eyes glowed in the dark. Given a moments notice, it slinked out from under the coffee table as Shinny walked back to her bedroom. The tiny thing tried to make a pass to where she was going, but the door closed shut before it could get near. It continued to creep among the dark corridors, legs growing tired from running in the rain. To its surprise, after lop siding to maintain some balance as it walked, its head met an empty place and an open door although dark inside. Its paws trudged along the thin carpet, desperately getting to a safe hidden place. Another irritable grasp of its paw, it dropped to the floor, where it quickly drifted to sleep.


	7. Dinner For Six? Part 2

Misguided Vampires

Dinner for….Six? Part 2

By the time morning came, the skies were cloudy and the rain fell slowly. Underneath Luke's bed, a little furry creature was stretching and yawing, its fur now dry. From what it appeared, it was short haired, pointed black ears and a full body of orange. It mewed when it tried to get up, slinking out from the floor. The cat was about a couple of months old; licking its out stretched hind legs and grooming along his white circled tail. But not without zipping out of the way was a bare white leg came down, followed by a second, now walking away. The kitten comes back out and trails after. When it came out of the bedroom, it lost sight of where the legs went. Its ears perked when it heard a shower running, and then scurrying to another door, pushing its way through the limited spacing.

There was no steam emitting from the curtain and ceiling space, as Luke was taking a cold shower, the only temperature he felt comfortable with; not because he was a vampire or didn't sweat, but he felt the most refresh when the water is cold. But what was new was that the water had unusual affects on him. Whether Luke knew it or not, being immersed in water causing most of his control over his height to vanish, as he would rise a couple of inches, depending on how long he stays in; the most he ever got to was nearly 7 feet, just about touching the shower ceiling. Yet when the water is turned off, he reverts back to his normal size. Since no one has seen him under any water for any reason, even Luke wouldn't notice physical what was going, but he felt it, like he was a whale or a sea dragon among the shore with a crowd was how he describes the idea.

A little visitor would make its first appearance of this discovery when it slowly pawed along the floor, sitting down and catching for a quick moment his blonde top reaching over the shower rim. It softly meowed to get his attention, the ploy worked as Luke turned his head after the last of the water dripped. He opened the curtain, but couldn't see anything in the bathroom. He went to dry himself off, his towel wrapped around his middle as he combed his hair long hair through. Ten minutes later, he came back to his room, fishing out a white turtle neck shirt ribbed in horizontal lines with his usual style white pants. He searched for his usual hair tie in a drawer when something began tugging at his hair. It pulled a few ways by small strands. This perplexed and annoyed Luke, but it was not possible for Jan to be doing that, remembering that Jan hasn't played with his hair before Jan was ten. When he turned around, he saw the smallest little animal he's ever seen, gnawing at the locks.

Jan dragged himself out of bed, shirtless and with a bad case of bed head. He rummaged through his draw to look for his beanie cap as Shinny, already up, was brushing her hair in the mirror. Sifting through his underwear, he heard a rapid muffling of soft chuckling near Luke's room. His knitted, scowled eyes had a 'what the hell' look. He cracked the door open and stomped to his older brother's room, cracking that door open. He found a matted young feline batting a wisp of Luke's hair, his brother laughing and smiling a long, bright joyous grin, giggling for the kitten to cut it out.

"Damn it, I'm not even awake and already you have a pussy," Jan grumbled. "A fuckin' first for everything." Then slamming the door shut behind him.

After their breakfast, the kitten rested and purred profusely in Luke's lap. Shinny stole some chin tickles under the kitten's near smiling gesture and talking in little baby voices.

"You're a wittle, bitty furball, aren't you? Yes you are," Shinny cooed. Somewhere, Jan can be heard through gagging noises.

Jan walked back in after coming out of the bathroom. "Fuck, is that bag of fur still here?!"

"JAN!" Wailed Shinny.

"It's alright," Luke comforted. "He's unfortunately still allergic to cats. Probably as an after effect from having asthma when he was younger."

"Asthma or fuckin' not, I don't wanna see that thing in here!!"

"Jan, don't have a stroke," Shinny called back. "It's not like it'll be staying forever. He just needs a good home."

"Yeah, in a violin factory," Jan muttered.

"We'll find a home for him soon, Jan." The kitten then went back to playing with some loose blonde hair.

The next day, Luke was on the phone as the kitten curled on his lap. Shinny placed an ad in the paper yesterday and calls poured in since this morning. For the time being, the kitten was named "Fuzzball", yet Jan wanted it called or just referred to it as a "Bag of Shit". She reprimanded him for calling it a filthy name and no one would even find it amusing. Luke, at the time they were arguing, was discussing about the kitten with a potential pet owner. This one sounded like an elderly lady living in one of senior homes outside of the city, but if the cat was taken in by staff and used as a company pet since none of the residents aren't allowed any pets.

As Luke hung up after finishing the conversation, he heard a door slam, jutting Fuzzball out of his slumber. It slinked over to another couch cushions as Luke went to see what happened. From looking into the small hallway and through the kitchen, the back door was open; Jan crouched on the end of the porch chair. By the closet main bedroom came soft sobbing. He sensed something was wrong, it felt like pin and needles but thrusting harder against the skin and felt it coming from Shinny. One other ability he had was sensing chi, or energy, in the air, and it wasn't good what he was experiencing.

He attempted to turn the door knob, but found, out of his own surprise, that hand went through it, his fingers disappearing behind the gold frame. He immediately pulled it back, gawking at his own hand. And to make things more bizarre, the phone rang. He somehow ignored it, as the answering machine picked up.

After the beep, came a familiar voice.

"Hey, this message is for Luke. Sweetie, are you there," Marlane asked over the machine. Luke snapped out of his daze to rush to the phone before the message stopped, yet his hand went though that as well. He wanted to pick the phone, and just then felt the receiver back in his hand.

"Marlane," he fumbled. "Marlane?"

"Luke? There you are. What happened?"

"I… had trouble getting the phone." As it was the half truth.

"Oh. Well… I was calling to ask you're all doing, and also to ask you something. But maybe I can come by and…"

"Actually," Luke interrupted. "What if we somewhere else? Everything's…alright here. Maybe a little later?"

"Well, it's about my parents. You see, I mentioned them to you. All I said was that you were gonna be a teacher, which is true since getting a position at the community college, and that we went out a couple of times and now want to meet you. They even invited us to dinner, but two things…"

Luke knew where her next sentence was going.

"I didn't tell them you were a vampire since there's no way they would even allow, fathom it. But…I also told them a little lie."

"How little," Luke asked as if insulted.

"I told them you were. . black."

The bedroom door creaked opened and Shinny slowly came out, holding some wet tissues and wiping her mascara away. She heard a soft thud and thought something happened to the brothers. She thought it might've been Jan, but he already came back in, with a sorrowful look on his face, as if he knew he was guilty. They both entered the living room and found Luke, passed out on the floor. Shinny gasped and rushed to his side, the phone dangling by the couch and Marlane calling out from it.

Luke eventually regained consciousness with Fuzzball licking his pale cheek. He found himself lying on the couch with a washcloth over his forehead, not slightly warm. When he tried to get up, hands were gently pushing him back down. He turned to find Marlane at his side, her one hand grasping over his left gloved one.

"Oh, honey. I thought something happened when you didn't respond. Shinny told me what happened and I came right away. Hon, how can you be shocked by something like that?"

Luke rubbed the back of his head in thought.

"Why would you even tell them that?"

"Well, I don't know about my mother, but daddy…is stricter about those things. He wants a "nice, black boy" for me as so he says. But how can I tell them, Luke? I really like you and I don't want to lose you over this. I don't know what else to do?"

The other couple was overhearing what was going on as Shinny offered a suggestion. She seemed to hesitate as she tried to speak it out.

"Well, if it's alright and with a little, no a lot of cleaning up, maybe Jan…can take his place."

"NO WAY!!!!" The brothers both roared. Marlane had her index finger closing her ear by the flap.

"Come on. You can't say the truth now, Marlane. When you talked about your father the last, he sounds like a real racist."

"Shin, babe. That's probably the most fuckin' dishonest and immature thing you ever said. Why don't we just skip dinner and head right for…" Shinny clasped his lips before Jan could get another word in.

"I don't want it to come to that, but, she's right. I don't have much of a choice."

Jan thought of how all the other times he could be with another woman; he wished it didn't involved racist white people. He garbled a heavy sigh.

"Fine, fine. Want me to be some poser boyfriend, do whatever the hell you want. Like I can say 'no' anyway."

"Alright," Shinny said unsure of herself, "If you're really alright with that."

"I am! But I'm keeping my damn piercings."

Marlane interjected, "No. They're gone."

"No way!"

"Fine, just one."

"Great. Just on my lips."

"No."

"Fine on my di…"

"No," Shinny cried out.

"Rrrrhh, ears then! Everyone happy?! Not anyone's gonna see it."

Marlane then turned back toward Luke. "Sounds were married already," before she muffled a chuckle.

The dinner was set for tomorrow night, Marlane responded to her parent's what was going on and agreed to let Shinny come by, speaking on her behalf as a friend. Marlane and Shinny took take of Jan's wardrobe, borrowing a few dressy causal items from Luke's closet. Jan's hand fumbled as he removed the piercings from his ear line, his nose and his lips, leaving a faint blue stone on his left lobe, hoping no one would "bitch" about it. His beanie cap was removed as the girls combed and styled his hair with mousse, giggling like high school girls when Jan asked if it came from real moose.

Then, after a few hours the day before and that night, Jan came out like a new person. His grey boots were still the same, but his trademark hat was gone, his hair smoothed down and glimmering like an oil slick. He was dressed to the nines with a casual black/grey shirt, gold faint lines can be seen up close, with white cufflinks spilling out of the dark sleeves and a turned up white collar, denim black jeans and ankles turned up and cuffed. Shinny whistled while Marlane looked on with her fingers to her chin, almost amusing herself by admiring her "creation".

"You cleaned up pretty well there, boy."

Jan glared at her. "I'm only doing this for Shinny. Given other circumstances…"

"Better not go there, boy."

"And _don't_ call me boy!"

Jan trudged out of the way, letting the other follow. All the while, Luke was no where to be seen; except padding his way through the stomach pocket of Shinny's outfit.


	8. Dinner for Six? Part 3

Misguided Vampires

Dinner for…Six? Part 3

Despite how cramped and starchy her shirt pocket was, located around her stomach and measured eight inches long and wide, it contoured to her body when flat, but with Luke at five inches high, it stood out like a coiled black bandage. She wore a white dress coat to cover up any "bumps", fitting it in place and then smoothing out her black lace and tat skirt. The other three were riding in Marlane's jeep, Marlane and Shinny in the front, while Jan, already looking bored, lying out on the entire back seat.

"I know you cleaned up Jan to make him look presentable," the small voice of Luke's floated upward. "But what about how he _presents_ himself? You didn't really have any time for that."

"Don't worry, honey," Marlane reassured. "If what I said to your brother works the same way I did with my little brother, it's a guarantee the evening can go at least without a fight."

Luke knocked his palm to his head in silent aggravation, thinking that the worst is already taking place.

30 miles away from Luthern later, the Yellow Cherokee jeep passed by large scale houses, pristine sidewalks and manicured lawns, glistening in the soft street lights after showers of electric sprinklers during the afternoon. Every sophisticated style of homes was abounding, from Victorian to multiple townhouses, even traditional homes modeled after Nakamura homes from Japan.

The home of Frederick and Marla Tommerson appeared as the only house without a fancy front gate, but a long curvy driveway up. Four white pillars stood erect, the home a two story mansion, strewn with hanging lights and two ferns placed on each side of a heavy oak front door.

The Jeep pulled up to the driveway and parked in front of the front door. Shinny was the first to step out and redo her dress coat so Luke could get a little more comfortable. Marlane stepped out just before Jan kicked her seat over and slugged out of the back seat. Shinny wanted to scold him, but decided not. She seemed to have something on her mind as she thought back to a few days ago. If she said anything, it would've made Luke concerned and it wasn't a big deal for him to know about. Right now, she really wanted Jan, more than anything, to be on his best behavior, and hopeful that he can actually prove the others wrong.

Marlane walked up to her old home and rang the doorbell.

"Now Jan," she started to lecture. "Remember the rules. No swearing, no glaring, no mention of blood in any way, no slouching…"

"No slouching?!" he sharply interrupted.

"Well, you're supposed to be a teacher. According to my dad, teachers don't slouch."

"Sure. And Hitler loved the Jews."

"Jan," Marlane hissed and motioned to raise her arm to knock him out, but the door opened and she turned a smile on.

Frederick Tommerson was an imposing looking figure, with broad shoulders and large hands as if sewn to regular sized arms. His face had a full, trimmed beard that connected to his side burns, with a few noticeable grey hairs along his dark coarse hair and just as much lines on his beard. His hair was flat and buzzed cut, prickly tiny hairs erupting that didn't show any signs of graying. The most noticeable adornment was a brown and black zigzagged tweed sweater, with the newspaper under his arm as if he was engrossed in the headlines before his daughter arrived. He appeared as an older man who might gripe over the sudden doorbell ringing at night and not wanting any company, but instead he embraced his daughter with a tight hug.

"Daddy," Marlane replied.

"Sweetheart," came a gruff, gentle voice. "So good to see you."

"And you too." Marlane let go of their hugging. "I also brought along a friend of mine. This is Abigail."

"Very nice to meet you, sir," Shinny greeted.

Frederick turned to Jan, who quickly straightened up.

"And you must be my little girl's beau. Luke, right?"

"What?!" Jan then realized who he was supposed to be. "Oh, uh, Yeah. Luke Valentine…sir."

Jan, Marlane and Shinny were welcomed inside, through the bailey and out to where Marla Tommerson, a short woman with a pleasant stout shape and a readying smile, made the plate arrangements, and approached her slightly taller daughter for a kiss and motherly hug before heading back to the kitchen. After the introductions, everyone was escorted to the living room as Mrs. Tommerson was putting the finishing touches with dinner. It was quiet, feeling more like a bright waiting room than a place to relax in. Even though Mr. Tommerson didn't turn Jan away as he saw him as a black man, he kept eyeing Jan like a laser beam set to shoot if he showed any signs of duplicity. Shinny also made sure Mr. Tommerson didn't eye her for anything, as she checked up on Luke occasionally and for him to motion to her to keep Jan in his role.

Wiping her hands off her peach-colored apron, Mrs. Tommerson called everyone to the dining room. The atmosphere breathed sophistication; a look too fragile to even enter upon. Two slender candles lit on opposite sides of a white clothed table, the cabinets filled with ancient heirloom Chinas and the black fleur de lis rug trimmed with gold tassels. The table was made from traditional oak, glossed over with a fine red dye that resembled blood without being too tacky.

In everyone's minds, Shinny was keeping the awe to herself, as she never saw such décor. Jan on the other hand knew then that Marlane's folks were "loaded", thinking he picked the wrong girl, until he caught her father's glimpse and quickly drove the thought away, making a mental note to never let Shinny know of his wandering curiosity. He didn't want to have to go through the incident from weeks ago.

Marlane still felt nervous among the tight tension, but as the parents and three guests sat down, everything started to lighten up. Knowing her father will ask eventually and prepping Jan about the details, Frederick brought up the teaching job, and Jan, sans the language, said exactly what it was like, where it was and even mentioning favorite pieces of literature, copying titles that Luke enjoyed.

"By the way, I should ask how you got to know . . the other young lady here, sweetheart."

Shinny began, "We…met at the book store. In the town I live in. I knew... Luke already, before I realized he was dating."

"I see," Mr. Tommerson replied with a curt sound that made Shinny more tight-lipped.

"B-but, Luke has been my friend for sometime…it, it isn't like…"

"Don't fret so much, darlin', Mrs. Tommerson spoke up for her. "Just a bad habit of his left over from his school days. He's always like that, questioning everything about people, checking if there are any liars in a bunch. He's even like that with the mailman."

Shinny really hoped then that Mr. Tommerson wouldn't see through her lies as she shyly looked down her lap and noticed that Luke wasn't there. Her heart raced, suppressing a gasp as she tried to shift around her pockets, making it look like she was ironing it out.

Then, with a clearing in his throat, Mr. Tommerson replied with a casual, non-authoritative announcement. "Well, Marlane. I had my doubts. I would've mistaken this lad for a street punk trying to pass as a law-abiding member of society, but I can see you finally found the right one."

Shinny still frantically searched, suddenly going under the table, on her knees feeling along the ground for him, muttering to herself where he could've gone.

"Shinny, you alright," Marlane asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I dropped my fork." Shinny then tugged at Marlane's pants, trying to bring her down before Marlane complied to go on her knees next.

"What is it," Marlane whispered.

"I think I lost Luke," she squeaked. "I don't know what happened…"

"What??"

At his size, it didn't take Luke long to speed his way to his brother after he accidentally "fell out" of Shinny's pocket, his new power still not in his grasp. He thought to himself that Jan didn't just grace Marlane's lap like he thought he did. And it wouldn't be pretty if it was the truth. Now on his leg, he began to climb under his brother's pant leg and crawled his way up, and reached his lap.

"If you can't find it, I'll just bring you another. We have plenty," Mrs. Tommerson got up cheerfully and left the dining area. Luke climbed deeper into his brother's pants, knowing the most fragile part there.

"Well," Mr. Tommerson chimed back in, "As I was saying…"

But he was interrupted again when Jan yelped and jumped out of his chair, grabbing his crotch and muttering every word under the sun, his cover sure to be blown. He tried to grab his pants, pulling on them, trying to catch whatever it was inside there. Marlane put her hand to her mouth in shock and Shinny tried to help him, but Jan's arm was already half way down his pants waist. He thought he caught something, a small thing that felt like a fleshy doll, but quickly escaped, even though it was tight in his grip. Just then, Luke phased out from Jan's pant link, before hitting against Shinny's black heel toe.

"There you are," Shinny quickly said and picked Luke up and placed him into her palm.

"There's someone else here?" Mr. Tommerson stared at the three, including Shinny's covered palms. Just then, Luke started to push against her hands, revealing himself growing quickly, prompting Shinny to let go just as fast, dropping Luke to the floor and perfectly squatting at three and a half feet high, eventually reaching to his full height. Mr. Tommerson could only stare in shock, his eyes almost too big for his head, with a flustered face.

Marlane was the one to speak up. "Fathe…"

"Who the devil are you," her father cut her off, almost snarling and screeching like a rabid cat.

"God dammit, Bro! What the fuck did you have to fuckin' do that for?"

Jan's ranting snapped Mr. Tommerson farther; not so much that he was tricked, but in that he almost fell for the charade everyone was pulling off; almost cruelly played for the fool that never went across him back in his principal days.

"What in God's name were you doing laying a hand on her??" Now it was Luke's turn to rant.

"I'm supposed to be you. What the fuck did you expect!?"

"I would've expected a little decency. Don't think I don't know for a second…"

Out of the squabbling roar, came a fierce loin's growl, already _putting_ to shame the beast, and which comes out the reply, "Are you saying _you're_ not Luke Valentine?"

"I'm a Valentine alright, but I know I ain't him," Jan pointed at his brother, scarlet cheeks showing the only color on Luke.

"…Daddy. This whole thing was all my fault. I asked Luke's brother, his name is Jan, to pretend to be him, so that you could accept him better if he was black."

"If these two are brothers, then why do they appear to be of a different race?"

"It's from our mother's side," Luke quickly mentioned. "It's a long story…and you better have a good one for this, Jan!"

"Bro, I was just in character…"

"Guys come on!" Marlane interrupted them again. "I know the truth would've been better, but even as an adult, you still want me to date someone of my own kind. And I know there's a bigger explanation for what Luke just did and everything else in between. I should also come clean about something else." A quick sigh before continuing, "These two are vampires. Real blood sucking, fanged ones, but they can go in the daylight and do everything else like regular people do and blood isn't an issue since they can eat like we can.

"There…I said…and you if you still feel whatever you feel about anyone I date or if you never want to see me again, I understand. And even with my career, this isn't out of the ordinary for me and I know you never really understood it…I love Luke…there's no one else like him and I'm not giving him up for anyone...not even for you, Daddy."

A silence fled the room once again; a stern expression still stood on Mr. Tommerson's face without saying another word, but his eyes held a certain gleam.

When nothing was said from her father, Marlane gathered her friends.

"Come on guys. I know we're not wanted. Tell Mama I said goodbye and had to leave right away," with her last words to her father, the four quietly trudged out of the dining room and out of sight.

Purring kept the room from dead silence, after everyone returned to Shinny's house, either upset or annoyed, but no one said a word on the ride home, their owns thoughts consuming the situation back at the Tommerson home. Marlane knew her mother would be upset about the argument and the deceit, but just leaving angry at her father the most. Shinny pondered if Jan really was trying to hit on Marlane. Luke and Jan fed their own internal feuds over Marlane. Back into the living room, "Fuzzball" was cozy along Luke's lap, Marlane leaned forward on her side staring down; Shinny and Jan were not to be seen, retiring to their room.

"It's my fault," they both said at the same time, turning to each other. "No, it's mine."

"Shinny, you know I wouldn't fuckin' do that. Sure, I might have wondered about it, seeing how rich her folks were, but no way in Hell I could take that guy. Did you see the look on his fuckin' face? Looked ready to fuckin' burst!"

"No, Jan. It's my fault. I snapped at you earlier and it wasn't right, even if I was on the Rag."

"Huh?" Jan scratched his head. "So, we weren't talking about the same thing?"

"I just thought that the way I yelled at you, you wouldn't tolerate it and try to hit on someone else, especially when it was _just_ convenient right now, if you know what I mean."

"Well, I'm not falling for her, that's for damn sure. Bro looked ready to burst himself. Babe, you're the only one for me. I don't really care if you bitch or not. Just don't come at me with a knife or something…"

"I know, I know," she suppressed a slight chuckle. "But what about Marlane and Luke? They have to know what happened."

The two came out of the master bedroom to confront the other couple. Shinny explained what happened between her and Jan a while back and that he wasn't trying to hit on Marlane.

Luke sighed and said, "I figured there was something wrong in the air…but I wasn't expecting that."

"But Bro, explain this. I knew you were in my fuckin' pants, but how in Hell did you get out when I caught you?"

"Well, that's something even I'm questioning. It happened with the door knob, then phone…"

"So you phased through them," Marlane asked.

"If you put it that way… but…a new power…"

"What the hell is phasing," Jas asked as usual.

"It's when you can go through solid objects, like most ghosts or apparitions can but without being one. Trust me, very common in my work."

"I don't know why now all of a sudden, but…what about with us? You wouldn't ever speak to your father again for me?" the idea of such true devotion sounded foreign to Luke.

"Well…I didn't have contact with either of them for years to begin with. But what hurts the most is that I thought something changed with him. And I think, now, that not even mom can get it through his head. Now nothing will ever be right again." She slowly let out muffled sobs, as the front door bell rang. Jan left to answer the door, choking back an expletive when he opened it. Mr. Tommerson stood on the small porch step, ready to quip back at Jan if he got the chance to open his mouth.

"Don't say anything, unless you answer if my daughter is here," Mr. Tommerson echoed. Jan mockingly swung his arm to let him in; a bad butler impression. He let himself him like authority and confronted the rest in the living area.

Marlane looked up, confused and her eyes wet and teary. "Daddy?"

"You mentioned weeks ago where he was living, so I knew I'd find you here."

"Daddy, why?" She slowly got up to stand in front of him.

"Sugar, I wanted to say something to you at dinner, but I didn't know how to say it at first. Frankly, I wasn't even thinking then and I might as well have been comatose. And the truth is…I wasn't even sure this boy you first showed me was who he said he was. Never have I seen anyone slouch like a Notre Dame hunchback."

"What the fuck, man…"

"But that's beside the point! Now, you two…just go on along with what you're doing."

"Fa-father!" Marlane looked at her father and back at Luke.

"At this rate, anyone's better than him," thumbing over to Jan, who was ready to smack him with an ashtray as Shinny grabbed his raised arm and waist. "As long as you say who you are, young man, then I have no problem at all."

"Really, sir," Luke asked a gasped. "But Marlane also said…"

"I know what she said. I haven't seen you done anything vampire-like. So keep it that way."

Nodding, "Yes, sir. I promise you that I love her as well and will take care of her."

"Very well then. Now if you'll excuse me," ready to turn around.

"Dad, wait, why the rush?"

"We'll plan something within next week." But before finally leaving, he turned around and smiled. "If that's alright with you."

Marlane breathily sighed at the sight of a smile on his face; she could only nod, grinning back. Mr. Tommerson then escorted himself to the door. "By the way…_Jan_…if you were at my school, that would mean three days suspension for threatening a school official," he quipped before closing the door. The breaking of glass struck the door.

"I'll give him a _suspension_…right up his," Jan sighed dejectedly. "Whatever."

Marlane wrapped her arms around Luke, who in turn let out a sly grin.

"Wow, it looks like everything turned out right after all. You must feel so happy, Marlane," said Shinny.

Marlane didn't answer; her arms still clung to Luke, as he showed his affections by his head lifting over the top of Marlane's, his own arms around her clutching tighter and becoming longer, her body slightly smaller than before. A smile still plastered his face as his head reached the ceiling; the love they have can make anyone feel seven and a half feet tall.

FIN


	9. Of Torn and Tears

MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

Of Torn and Tears

A gruff, echoing sound of "UGH!" ripped along the house one afternoon. The only thing that made a difference was that there were only two people in Shinny's house at the time, and neither she nor Jan was home. Inside at the moment belonged to Luke as a house sitter and Marlane was spending her time there as well. Shinny dragged Jan along to a convention a few states over with her Goth friends, mentioning an anime convention to be exact and commenting that Jan would fit right in (after getting his two cents in by making a crack that her friends were good enough weirdoes to fit in).

Now back to where we left off. An agonizing scream was heard and no one was around to hear it; Marlane didn't stop by yet (out doing a small grocery shopping). So the only possible person that made that sound and could hear it was Luke crying out over something and Fuzzball the kitten clamors for under the couch, jumping from the sound off the cushions and running.

It was just then, after his fit, that Marlane came in with bags of food and on her way to the kitchen to put them away. As Luke wouldn't just badger Marlane with his issue (which wasn't that much of a big deal for most people faced with it), what did happen was that while putting on his usual white dress pants, now wearing a grey dress sweater that wasn't too bulky, his waist felt a bit snug, except it felt very tight trying to pull it over to button. Cue cries of long "UGH" and that was his problem: he believed he gained weight. Despite his capability to still eat solid foods on occasion, it didn't process normally in his body and just go down like he never ate at all, so that possibility was out. He didn't look any heavier either; could it just be more developing muscles after getting used to moving at higher speeds? To him in that regard, it felt like just being forced, shoved along the top of water without moving any part of the body; once again that wasn't it.

After the couple supped in the kitchen, they retreated to the side porch, warm air slowly becoming cooler with the setting sun and the sky growing darker. They held against each other along the outdoor couch, Luke stroking Marlane's arm in their embrace while she twirls a lone finger by his lower hair tips. Fuzzball squeezed his way through the screen door and decided to perch himself along Luke's long lap, kneading its small paws to get comfortable, mewing loudly for attention. Marlane "meowed" back as Fuzzball echoed the same reply. The kitten rubbed his head along Luke's sweater, purring vibration with some cloth gnawing; just as a cold wet nose "kissed" bare skin quickly before Luke could notice something chilly. Marlane's own breathing lingered over his chest, which she had to bend her neck and head down as she was only slightly shorter than Luke.

They're plans were fairly simple that night, dining and cuddling, the later being Marlane's favorite. And it brought Luke's mind off of how his body felt earlier. They continued to cuddle outside before retiring to his room, Luke whisking Marlane off and carrying her with ease in his arms, her face a darker crimson hiding a smile. This would be their night, a true night of passion with no restraints, nothing in the way to keep them apart.

Cigarette smoke wisped in the air from the delicate slim fingers who surveyed the casual chatter at a local night club. The conversations were mixed of American, French and German, roughly more German. This was a spot in Berlin, still late at night, hours before the morning would come. Hard rock music played on the speakers as everyone seemed dazed yet alert, skin very pale even among dim lights, cups and glasses overflowing red. One couple in the way back were necking each other, the lady hissing as she bit on the gentleman's neck.

Who was looking over the deadly calm atmosphere appeared to be someone who belongs to an "upper elite" except dressed as a cross between a post-apocalyptic punker and trench coat mafia S&M queen. Her coat was to her ankles; shiny black with the words "Fuck me and Die" pinned on the back, bobbed bleach blonde hair cut between her ears but with hair stroked back. Her eyes were painted with a thin straight black bar over and below her eyelids and around the other skin areas, ominous to _Blade Runner_. Her face had a normal peachy hue made up along with icy blue eyes that stare onlookers down. She was also tall, standing around 5'10", a few inches more and more menacing with 4-inch black boot heels. She only went by the name Snowflake. She was drinking hard rum from a mug, watching the other vampire patrons, amazed at how many more there were out there, let along actually in existence. Whether they were true vampires or the artificial variety, it was hard to tell, they all rank of death and blood.

From the description she was given, no one looked like the two men in the photograph. Hard enough to believe they were brothers, but the rumor mill cleared that as truth, along with their possible whereabouts, saying they belonged to a Nazi group that supplied half of the vampire population. Thankfully, she was human, and knew someone inside the group. Someone she never really met but remembered her Mater telling her about him: her father. She never said what he looked like, since he changed so much since then. She brought her thoughts back to the present and continued to wait for someone else. Another person came into the back, at the lone booth where she sat. Snowflake saw at once the long bloody lab coat, spectacled and long face, odd haircut, also tall. She tightly held her mug as he just slid into the seat opposite her.

"I'm not even supposed to be out like this, speaking to another human," he said, German accent very protruding. Snowflake just looked at him hard for a second.

"So, what do you ask of me?" her accent also German.

"I must admit, at first, that you're very brave to be seen in a room full of vampires without any nightwalker noticing," his smile very grizzly like, almost conniving.

"I should say the same for you," she said after snuffing out her cigarette and lighting another thin stick. "Now is it true that another Nazi group exists? And are somehow behind this vampire explosion?"

"Now somehow," he corrected. "Is. But it's been months, close to a year now that our order is dwindling. A raid the Major order was, you would say, bust, nothing came out it, but a vampire hunting organization destroying our Millennium and the five of us starting over…"

"Fine, whatever," Snowflake interrupted him, "Tell the "boo-hoo" story to someone that cares. You _asked_ me for a job, not spinning a yarn."

He nodded, "Yes, of course. Despite that you're a witch; I've also heard you're the best assassin in the underworld, so both skills would become very necessary. Now, I see you have the photographs there, but don't expect them to be here. I need you to go Luthern, Connecticut for _these_ gentlemen." indicating the photos of a pale young man in white and a dark-skinned one in a dark track suit.

"What's the objective?" Snowflake puffed out a cloud.

"I want you to investigate the from afar, make sure you're not seen by them or anyone else who knows them. And especially for the blonde one; make his life as miserable as possible."

"Ya know I'm more used to shooting one in the head from behind than just peeking at them in the shower."

"Just do what is necessary, fraulein, but leave them alive and you'll get extra commission."

She shrugged, "Works for me. I'll try and Apparate to the right place ASAP. Maybe you'll also tell me _who is_ around in your organization… Doctor… as I'm also searching for someone myself."

He smiled in a perverse, fatherly way. "All in due time…"

The night was quiet outside from the bedroom. They were just getting ready to be further together when Marlane noticed something about Luke. She only saw him with his shirt off once and from the back, flat stomach, very lean with invisible ab lines. It was then that she noticed how tight his clothes were, all in a very unusual way. It couldn't be that he was so aroused his clothes ended up more than one size too small; a feat, more like, to actually fit in them with ease. Maybe she was imagining it as Luke slowly slid into the bed, his long hand caressing her shoulder and the other softly on her breast, an areola rub sending shivers in her mouth. Both their eyes were closed, silent in their voices except for throttling moans, mostly from Marlane.

Their lips locked together, hers warm against the soft coldness, but his had a kick, sensations in his blood that made up for lack of warmth. She could feel him inside her now; even then it felt cold which made her jump, but her lips could form a trickling grin. She was used to having something inside her "place", sometimes in spite of her father as a naïve lady, being with other men that she had at least some feelings for before she could go into bed. His was different somehow, not alive yet dead, but felt in spirit more alive than ever; his thrusts not as hard, very roomy, like a nympho's dream of a perfect fucking. They rocked and kissed back and forth.

Her patch was working inside him perfectly; magical detection from the special patch would make the changes inside him work as she planned. She wasn't exactly inside the house; earlier Snowflake was perched on a thick tree branch when she hear the masculine wailing, then stealthily moved from the forest and laid against the house wall tight. As instructed from Doc, the young man had the ability to change his size at will and because he's very sensitive about his powers, he can be easily provoked, and too much stress and anger on him would cause him to lose control of his abilities and anything tricks he's learned from it. From the looks she got at his photograph, she felt he was a pretty-boy type, hyper-sensitive about his looks and would bitch if he even gained an ounce. She chuckled at the thought and how right she was when he started to notice something, but so far there have been to extreme changes she would notice by now. He even had a lady friend over and heard some deep muffling from the bedroom window.

There was nothing to do now, but wait and relax. She took out her silver cigarette case and lit a thin stick. Out from the metal clasp inside were wads of bills she looked over and counted her money, a small crimped photo fell out of the folds. She picked it up and looked at. It was her posing with her hands held along a strong, silky forearm, belonging to bulging muscles, her head in front of modest yet round breasts in a tight jump suit and parachute-like pants below. This butch woman had tattoos only on her right body side, exact thin cigarette between her lips, and one who doesn't smile as often but still made a poor effort anyway. Snowflake smirked and put the photo back in.

"I am sorry to hear what happened to you, Joleen," She said to herself. "Guess you weren't the type they were looking for after all. A sad way to go to get your head scrapped against a wall to nothing. Maybe I can take your place if I do this right." She swiftly puffed away, as she was referring to her relationship with Britz. Snowflake didn't know until later that Joleen was a Millennium member when she had a fling with her. Doc told her the story of a comrade that was replaced to storm some other headquarters (which the brothers were originally scheduled to do), but instead got herself killed in the heat of battle by a naïve vampire girl. So that one mystery was solved, but still another remained. Snowflake couldn't ask about who her father was…yet. If this little mission goes well, she'll remind herself to ask a "request".

Morning came so beautifully when the early night of love-making was over, and the couple was already asleep. Luke was the first to wake, dragging himself out and getting dressed in his regular white suit, still fitting him regardless but not even any distinction, he saw, that he gained any weight. Whatever it was, it must be an unusual side-effect of vampirism that hasn't been discovered yet.

It was now Marlane's turn to wake up, a blanket covering up her breasts.

"Morning," her sleepy self greeted.

"Morning to you," he smiled back.

"I never would've thought how wonderful you were last night." Marlane swept her hair up from below. "You've must've had practice before."

Luke was buttoning the rest of his coat when he said, "Actually, that was my first time."

Marlane's eyes and expression almost popped out of her head when she heard that. Her mind uttered "damn! And as sexy as he looks... not even a girlfriend… and biting a neck wouldn't count either…"

"Well… either way, it the best I've had in a long time." Marlane smiled.

Morning also came for Snowflake, who didn't seem tired at all; making an anti-sleeping potion always helped her when she pulls her own all-nighters. She peeked back at the window and the two were already up, smiling and the woman acting weird when he said something to her, but pushed that aside. As much as it was too sugary to see people looking happy all the time, it wouldn't hurt Snowflake to feel …

Still nothing happened during the night; it was time for phase 2. Gathering a few tools: her wand made from bark, a plastic container cauldron and baggies filled with powders, she began working on brewing something together. She concentrated on all negative thoughts of her own. When everything was stewed together, she bitterly drank the potion, swallowed it and directed her wand at Luke from the window glass. A beam of green and blue light swam from the tip, its essence sharpening to a straight line and hitting directly above his heart, twitching his shoulders as it entered.

From inside, Luke grabbed and squeezed his left shoulder, his heart beginning to race. From the times he forgets where is heart used to be, it still from time to time beat, very slowly, very softly, almost invisible to the touch and the ears of the body. It did beat steadily now, racing with a sensation that just came over him.

"Luke," Marlane called to him, her blouse and panties now covering her body, as she came to him. "What is it?"

He tried to push his other arm up, either to move her aside to show some strength to lean on her or for him. He didn't feel weak, but something was going on in his head. Memories came like water tides, his parents, smiling, but fading as bloody messes, alone in the storage locker, 60 feet high and glasses filled to the brim with tears, everything else was about Doc, his sneer, his tall demeanor, and the slyness.

He felt so angry now, emotions bubbling up as thoughts went too fast to measure. His hands gripped tighter, his body slightly trembling, teeth gritted, until he let it out with a screaming roar which made Marlane stumble back.

"Luke!"

His arms loosened up around him and his right hand let go, dropping to his side, breathing heavily. He looked over at Marlane, her face in shock and worry; he didn't want it to come to that, if he did something to her…

The warm, tightening and stretching sensations he had come to recognize overtook him again, but it was like holding onto a rope that you can't feel against your hands until they're already gone. He did feel himself growing then, in tune to his angered memories, but it felt too hazy to even react. The pacing was slow, but the spurts came as abrupt, making him stretch painfully to the eye's perception. Soon, he towered over Marlane and his head scrunched against the ceiling, except he combat the space by tearing through, a small dent gaping and becoming wider as his head moved up. His coat tore away from his shoulders, sleeves ripping at the seams and dropping in rags. The thread rows in his pants and along the sides ruptured and expose pale flesh, his feet groaning inside his shoes, making their entry way out.

The rest of his body followed, moving up and out, no need to explain in detail how long it happened or how much came about, Luke grew countless feet at the moment, his love crouched somewhere away from harm. When his spurt did stop, he was 55 feet tall, lifting one leg up slowly through the bigger hole and planted along the grassy ground before his other leg moved away. Despite feeling shocked over his loss of control, he was saved some embarrassment that his pants now became his ripped "shorts".

"Marlane," his voice cried out in realization and searching, carefully shifting through the small debris.


	10. Of Torn and Tears 2

MISGUIDED VAMPIRES

Of Torn and Tears, Part 2

"Luke," Marlane's small voice yelped, bringing her head out of her arms' coverage and seeing the floor littered with rafting and clumps of siding. She tried calling out again, thinking for a split second how a man who ended up growing tremendously just disappear all of a sudden.

Then, a large lone pale hand dipped below the floor, palm outstretched. Marlane stumbled as she got up, walking and slowly craning her head to where it came from. From above in the morning sky, Luke, now a titanic, almost timid being bent down and reflected an awkward smile, almost like he wasn't sure if smiling was what he should be doing. Marlane slowly abides and climbs aboard, sitting still as his hand slowly rose up, away from the mess, pass the hole and rising a couple of feet above.

"What in the world happened to you," Marlane said.

"_This_ is what I want to know," referring to being left with shorts in hand-me-down fashion.

"Either this is really happening, or it's too early to still wake up…" She tried to survey the scenery again; sure enough the sun was bright in her eyes and slowly warming up early for that time of year.

"I'm afraid it really is happening", Luke's voice echoed, a twinge of disappointment in his tone. He placed her on a more stable side of the house's roof, as he crossed along the sides to kneel along the grassy backyard, still feeling something amiss and unending. His mind was telling to shrink back down, but the fact that this happened without his precise control, even letting his clothes burst off, left him thunderstruck. Marlane, on the other hand, was terrified over what she thought was a cave in on the house, she found her nerves still tingling, but she became curious as to what was the real cause. All she could do was move toward Luke a little closer, grasping and stroking large strands of swayed blonde hair sitting along the roof's edge.

With his concentration back in focus, Luke was able to shrink himself back to his normal size, his hair snaking away from the roof and slightly swished when it flowed down his knees.

"Everything all right down there?" Marlane called from the edge looking down as Luke wrap the torn pants-shorts around himself.

"I hope that was a little early morning humor", Luke called back up.

"You got to admit, it's better than a wake up call."

Luke sighed with a wry smile and shook his head.

The couple came back inside the house and surveyed Luke's bedroom. Everything was in shambles, tiles and plaster dusted the floor and bed, with loose wirings hanging above. The dresser had a three foot long dent, the mirror cracked in spider web design, the curtain rod unhooked at the right end on the ground with the white curtain splayed and wrinkled. The hole from the ceiling inside appeared bigger up close with the wind blowing on the wires and loose ceiling tiles and plaster. Luke calculated that the damage was at least over $3,000 to repair and Shinny would flip over the damage; a bad end to her and Jan's vacation.

"I don't know what to tell you, hun," Marlane broke the silence, "Not even you can sweet talk your way out of this."

Despite that it was a crude remark on his eloquence; he didn't take the outcome of how Shinny would react to heart.

"I don't need to sweet talk," he replied, excusing himself from the doorway and Marlane, making his way through the demolished room. Despite the dent, he pulled open the second drawer, moved aside a casual shirt and picked up an object wrapped in grey terry cloth. He removed the cloth to reveal the crystal arrowhead he and Jan dug up some time ago. The daylight from above reflected along the crystal's surface, thin rainbows edged along the lines; a genuine artifact from long ago that all the museums in the world would pay top dollar to have on exhibit. Yet the Valentine Brother's know that the arrowhead was too powerful to be held in other hands.

He clasped the arrowhead between his closed fists, he wished for his room to be repaired and quickly; the arrowhead responded with a bright glow. The debris on the floor magically floated up and rebounded against the ceiling, the hole steadily shrinking away, repairing on its own; like a movie in rewind. The curtain hung back up, the wires reconnected until the ceiling has been "filled" and the light shade back in place, leaving the bed unmade and ruffled where the two had slept last night.

Marlane could only stare at the room returning to normal by some uncanny means. She was used to seeing furniture fly on its own by poltergeist, but she knew the house was free of spirits. It was no doubt another supernatural presence that made everything right.

She pointed in the vicinity of the area and quivered, "You didn't just cause…" Her voice trailed trying to say if Luke can also use a particular kind of magic. Luke only smiled and showed her the object that repaired the room.

Outside the window, unaware that Luke and Marlane were being watched, Snowflake saw what took place. She was shocked to see not only the Valentine returned to normal size, but magic was performed on the demolished bedroom. It wasn't very clear if something was enchanted or he knew how to perform magic himself, the Doctor never mentioned any magical capabilities. Somewhere in her mind, she knew this was not shaping up to be a regular hit job.

One thing she didn't mention that this mission was her first to involve a vampire; she never really saw one or what a current appearance vampires take, remembering old tales in the wizard world of such beings. This one was also a Daywalker, able to survive with real nourishments and without the need to drink blood. His brother, by her account, must be the opposite; but who has yet to appear. He did manage to shrink himself down, but her spell was working none the less. She believed that any troubled childhood or other traumatic moments he remembers again will have more adverse affects on his powers.

There was nothing more she could. Eventually, she would have to investigate what the magical item is. For now, she apparated back to her motel room, awaiting any news or next orders from the Doctor. She relaxed in a bathtub, enchanted to appear cleaner and materializing warm water with orange and pink bubbles right away, soaking her body as her mind imagined the trouble the young, blonde Valentine will have in the days to come.


	11. Of Torn and Tears 3

Misguided Vampires:

Of Torns and Tears, Part 3

One day at the convention went like this: the majority of goers were between 14 to 40 years old; the lobby was crowded in the morning of said people dressed up for one big Halloween party, in character and costumes that Jan wouldn't have a clue as to whom or what they were. He did occasionally make a few glances at a dozen or so catgirls that walked by. It perplexed him to see a few in Nazi costumes, but Shinny reassured him that they were dressing up as the villains from a popular Anime and Manga series; although Jan swore one was dressed like Doc.

Compared to Shinny, her friends were the fans of this particular culture while she was a casual viewer, forcing Jan to watch a few of her favorite series episode before hand. He never really got to know their names, but they were identifiable all the same. One guy was over 20-years-old with blonde hair that had been streaked with blue and red lines and pensioned for leather everything; one girl appeared the most normal save for her own black cat ears on top of her head she wore in a head band; the youngest was a few inches shorter than Shinny, wearing a pink choker and a red and black horizontal striped shirt and black pants, a red lip ring pinched along her bottom left lip. Jan got along well with the quiet guy, who was the only one not bothered by his constant swearing while the young man was checking out any and all girls at the convention, something Jan in this case had to be extra careful with, or risk, literally, being led on a leash like one couple did.

They went through all the dealers' stands and watched people in costumes play a giant version of chess, amid squealing girls squawking over the various cute and distant attractive young men. Jan wondered if there was a guy walking around and selling ear plugs. He really tried to take whatever event or vacation he was dragged to just to see Shinny happy and without making her think he would run off with another girl somewhere or if there were never any boobs and legs that he didn't like. And at an event like this, everyone was showing off what they had than normally.

He heard of rumors of a hairy guy with a noticeable beer belly and just as hairy going around dressed in a skimpy outfit based off an extremely sexy cartoon girl. Just one more sign of Jan's devotion to a real girl. Jan did love Shinny dearly, even though he had his own rules of showing affection and trying to not be so lovey-dovey, but his days of chasing after live strippers and dancers were long gone. There wasn't anyone that could put up with his rudeness and wise-ass remarks better than Shinny. Sometimes there were days when he crossed the line by an inch but made it out with his own skin on; little did he know what it would really feel like to be on the other side of line.

Despite his complains as usual, nothing out of the unusual happened. Yet, it wasn't until one girl dressed as a sexy cat trotting along. "Shiva" was a famous con-goer that went to all the East Coast conventions that she was eventually invited as a special guest. She was dressed in all black, blouse and folded skirt which shook her long black tail that trailed her back, with hand sewn "mittens" and fishing hooks painted yellow and inserted into the fingers for her "claws". She also wore high black boots glued with black felt fabric; stockings covered her legs. Her specialty was going up to random people, purring and rubbing along their legs and faces and tinkling her gold bell ball, hung along an all red studded collar.

Jan was talking to quiet guy when Shiva "pounced" on him; by pounce, she wrapped her arms and mittens over his neck, her one leg up in the air with acting a gleeful joy. She brought her tail over to his head to tickle under his nose and trace along his beanie cap; which she then swiped clean off his head. His poofy thick hair swished at his bangs, looking like a dark cotton swab. The quiet guy hid a nonchalant smile as Jan tried to grab his cap back. Shinny and the other girls came out of a panel room about writing yaoi fan fiction, giggling with each other like little girls hearing a funny secret. It wasn't until Jan kept playing the game keep away that Shiva leapt off the ground and grabbed hold of Jan, holding onto him with her legs crossed around his back, her chest gyrating against his.

"JANNI!"

He knew who the exasperated and near-shouting voice belonged to. Only the closest oncoming groups of people and attendees that passed the Shiva display were quieted down by the sound and stared at the young lady in the long black skirt, eying the tall dark man with a Catgirl around his waist. Jan wanted to say something, about to open his mouth when he thought to himself that he was faced with 2 options. Either he would say that it wasn't what it looked like or try to claim his innocent on the matter; which the later would've worked if Shiva was hanging onto his lean body. It was then that Jan didn't need to say anything; Shinny all of a sudden quieted down and lowered her arm that was raised in aggravation and shock. Not wanting to make a scene, she just played along with the ongoing; a mock voice of anger over Shiva and to keep her paws off her man, to which Shinny came over and took Jan by the arm, pulling and dragging him away; his arm squeezed too tight over her hands and her fingers too close away from digging further into his skin.

He was only brought back to the small group to be shoved off to another panel that was starting in fifteen minutes; not enough time to get the front seats but to at least be seated with the audience and not forced to stand up on the walls. Jan thought Shinny would pull him over to a corner or a wall by the bathroom to demand why she was all over him or on the verge of crying when she made the demand. None of it happened though, but Jan could tell by her glare and her hand too tight around his than usual that he made a very, very big goof. He knew it wasn't his fault and surely to make it so if and when they fight over it. The quiet guy tried to ease him with a side conversation after the last panel the girls wanted to go to that day.

"What'ya think she'll do to you, man," his voice held a slight New Jersey twang, boisterous and vibrating, "Throw 'er pillow at ya? Yell till your ears bleed and her mouth goes dry? Grab a steak knife when we get to the restaurant tonight?" The quiet guy kept running the list down. Jan could only comeback with one word: a word that was self-defeatist and all knowing at the same time.

"Worse."

The dinner at the Shore Front Eatery kept a quiet dinner party, each almost afraid to say anything unless to incur some hidden wrath that would take out the restaurant of cosplayers and the nearest block. By the end of the night, with only the three nameless friends at the night long dance off party that the inn room only hosted Jan and Shinny, who scuffed off to the dresser near her bed and looking for her nightgown. She wasn't interested with the dance anyway, even though Jan peeved her off earlier.

"Look, Shin…" Jan tried to sound reasonable, feeling calling her "babe" wouldn't help the matter, "I had no fuckin' idea what that girl did. She took my friggin' cap off! And called me… 'fuzzy head'." Shiva called him that over and over, chanting and smile while she kept the cap to herself. Shinny smiled at the thought for a moment, but wanted to stand her ground more, turning around; the smile gone.

"But what was with her being all over you!"

"I don't know! Some…crazy fuckin' chick looking like a pussy just jumped me, like I was in an alley and some big ugly dude came out of nowhere and was gonna rape me or something. Honest, ba… I didn't want that psycho on me."

"You don't understand women, do you," she said out of the blue, which Jan looking at her puzzled.

"Wait, you don't think…"

"No all of us 'chicks' are crazy. I know how you don't like being here and with all these things going on…"

"Well, I wasn't gonna fuckin' no to you. Never did!"

"But I have seen you eyeing the other girls, all scantily dressed like the cute girls in the cartoons. Some with their boobs a few breaths away from popping out…"

Her last statement made Jan wiggle his cheeks with hot and bothered thought of girl's breasts plunging out. It was enough work to keep a straight face and keep his Mr. Happy from jumping up for joy.

"But, still… you probably wanted that more than anything." She finally ended her thought.

"Shinny…"

"Don't say anything, Jan. I guess," she shrugged her shoulders, "Boys will be boys." She found her gown and went into the bathroom to change, not wanting to look at Jan right away. He in turn growled to himself.

_Boys will be boys._ What the fuck does that mean, he thought; girls will be girls; that's what it should be.Jan was forced by himself to sleep on the hard floor; Shinny wanted him to come to bed, but he felt comfortable on the floor. There were times in his past where he slept where he fell or where brothels didn't have any beds, filthy, next to other drunken low-lives, it didn't matter; he wasn't was a low-life then; the "worse" that Shinny could do.

When he went to sleep, it was like a too surreal dream; with Shiva already clinging to him then jumping off, disappearing right to the floor. This left him with his own chest in view as if a mirror sprang up in front of him and could see himself in view; he swore he could feel himself growing in that way, his body giving way for his upper chest to grow, to plump out into small orbs steadily growing rounder. His slender body formed along his torso and produced small, hourglass curves and more protruding hips, his lips took on a life of their own, pulsing and beating into a fuller shape, as luscious as porn star's lips elevated with bright red stoplight lipstick. Any masculine feature he had along his face and head became softer, more delicate; his Adam's apple shrinking back into his neck; lesser hair on his legs; smaller feet. There wasn't anything he could do but let the space of dreaming take him on the ride of the human anatomy.

By early morning he was profusing sweat along his forehead and arms. As he wiped his head with his hand and his arm on his shirt, he felt past a large bump, two large bumps to be exact; right where his flat nipples should be. He grabbed them and squeezed them…and squeezed them again. Something wasn't right; jumping right up to his feet like any normal cat and stumbling for the mirror in the bathroom, knowing right away his feet where "daintier" and with legs not as muscularly lean. He spent a full minute crawling and dragging himself up to the bathroom counter, using a free arm when he pulled himself up to flick the light switch. Right in front of him, with equal yellow slanted eyes with a softer glare, looser shaped lips and a body with more curves than a dirt back road hidden under looser and bigger clothes. His cap shifted on the right side of his head; his own hair straight and wavy and longer, He knitted his eyes and immediately reached around his ass, squeezing it like a squishy, rotten melon, which to him was how women's butts should feel.

Right then and there, he figured out that there were things that were worse, like your girlfriend giving you the silent treatment and meager argument of what you did wrong. And then there were things that were "_worse"_.


End file.
